NorCal Prix de Nations 1.20m Team
Julia Nagler, Shannon Wright, Ramsay Kubal, and Courtney Bohart
Story by Shannon Wright

This was my first time showing at Spruce Meadows, and it was better than I had ever  imagined!  As people say, it’s like Disneyland for horses.  We came up for 2 weeks, the Continental Tournament and the Skyliner, which had the Prix de Nations Team Events.  Spruce Meadows management and of course the Southern family have made this tournament especially amazing.  The whole Skyliner  week is all about the Junior/Amateur events.  Even if you aren’t on a team when you arrive, management will assign you a team, so everyone has a chance to participate which is really great.  I rode on the 1.20m team along with Julia Nagler, Courtney Bohart and Ramsay Kubal, captained by my mother, Sue Ellen Wright.  My dad, Glenn Wright, was supposed to be on the team, but unfortunately his horse didn’t feel comfortable on the grass after struggling with the wet footing the first week.  Therefore, he was reassigned to another “orphan” team for the Prix de Nation event.  Ramsay was our first alternate and she filled in beautifully for Friday’s class.  The format starts with Thursday’s class as the speed leg which counts towards Sundays individual Final Four.  I rode my horse Donny Darco (Bidar) and he was perfect as always!  We were 7th in that class.  Friday’s class was the Prix de Nations Team Event and there were 20 teams in our division.  We all had great rides.  I went first with 4 faults, Courtney was 2nd to go with 4, Ramsay next with 8 and Julia was our anchor rider and she was clean.  They only take 4 teams back for the 2nd round.  The top 6 teams got ribbons and we were just out of it in 7th place.  Not bad for our first trip up there.  Saturday’s class was the 1.20 Grand Prix.  Again I had 4 faults, but it was so exciting and so close, Donny was a star.  He’s just 7 years old, and has never performed at any venue like this.  He didn’t care if it was raining, thundering, lightening whatever.  The only thing he didn’t understand was the hail.  He truly thought the sky was falling!  Other than that it was such a great experience, we both matured and learned so much in just two weeks.

Thanks to all the sponsors, trainers, and supports!
Sincerely,
Shannon Wright, Julia Nagler, Ramsay Kubal and Courtney Bohart